From SportsBusiness Journal
TBS is averaging four percent higher overnight Nielsen ratings through its first eight playoff games compared to last year and has seen an increase in 25-54 year old male viewers by fifteen percent. Certain games are even obtaining higher ratings than usual even though NFL games are on television at the same time. Through the first three days, TBS is averaging a 2.3 US rating and 3.6 million viewers which are up fifteen percent and fourteen percent respectively. In terms of viewers and US rating from last year on the third day of playoff coverage, both are up eleven percent. D.C. has had its best rating since the Nationals came to town in 2005 and the Orioles have had their highest rating since the were last in the playoffs in 1997. The Major League Baseball Network (MLBN) averaged 1.3 million viewers for the Athletics vs. Tigers game, which was the networks highest ever. Some fans and writers feeling like the MLBN’s handling of its coverage is greedy however. The MLBN is not allowing local markets to air the games it airs.
I believe baseball is doing a great job making a comeback and becoming relevant to television ratings and audiences once again. Football and basketball had taken over for a while and I feel like it is nice to see baseball making marketing changes to bring audiences back in. The MLB has seen how effective the NFL and NBA have been with commercials geared towards their fans and now the MLB is airing similar commercials and the effectiveness of such commercials is being seen with the increased ratings. It does not hurt however, that some new teams have made the playoffs and it is not just the same teams this year that it usually is.
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